Hospital Carves 'KKK' Into Blind Man's Chest, Denies Charges (VIDEO)
A blind man has earned support from the public after he claimed that a hospital carved his body during an open-heart surgery.
Vernon Traversie, a 69-year-old Native American man who also happens to be blind, has accused a South Dakota Hospital of failing to take action after he reported being abused by a male nurse. Traversie was rushed to Rapid City Regional Hospital in August of last year after suffering from a heart attack. He was told that he would require open heart surgery. Following the surgery Traversie reported that he was in a lot of pain. He then claims the male nurse who responded to him was abusive.
"He told me to shut my f------ mouth or he'd shut it for me. I didn't provoke him. I didn't disrespect him," Traversie told Mail Online.
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Traversie says that he reported the incident to the hospital, which did nothing about it except discharge him although he said he was still in pain. He also reported the incident to police who said that there was no evidence that a crime had been committed. One nurse went as far as to report to Traversie that his scars were abnormal, although she would not come forward to testify on his behalf.
"My conscience won't let me be. It's bothered me for days. Something was done to you, and I believe it was wrong," the nurse reportedly told Traversie. "I can't sleep. I keep thinking about what they did to you."
Traversie's friend posted a YouTube video to show people the scars that were left on his body. The video points out that it appears as though "KKK" has been inscribed across Traversie's body. Traversie also took the nurse's advice and asked his church pastor to take pictures of the scars the day after the surgery.
Regardless of the pictures, some do not believe Traversie's case and fail to acknowledge that the amount of scarring is unusual or that the any of the scars resemble the letter K. Others believe that Traversie has been blatantly discriminated upon as a Native American.
"Rapid City ... we understand you have been carving up our people. This is going to end today," American Indian Movement founder Dennis Banks said Monday during march which hundreds of protestors attended in support of Traversie's case.
